The History of Drimala Records |
Editor: We recently caught up with Philip Egert, President of Drimala Records. We asked me to talk about how the label got started and what was behind his idea of trying to sell cds off the Internet at a time when online shopping was still in its infancy. |
| Drimala Records actually had its
genesis 30 years ago. While working on my degree in Music Composition, I worked in the
Music Library at the University of Virginia. One of my jobs was to record all the Music
Department concerts for documentation purposes. Sitting backstage listening to four years
worth of concerts was when the bug first bit me to start a record label. Fast forward to 1988. Through a strange series of events about the same time, I met one of the most extraordinary pianists alive today, Joel Futterman. He had been in a 2-year funk since the passing of his close friend, Jimmy Lyons, and I made it my mission to rekindle his music. I borrowed $3000, we packed up the car, went to New York City (where else), and made a recording. That recording, Vision In Time, featured Joel, Richard Davis, Joseph Jarman, and Robert Adkins. Silkheart released it a year later and my recording career had begun, again. Over the next 10 years, I produced more than two dozen recordings for other labels. During this entire time, I stayed away from starting my own label. I was fully aware of the many horror stories related to distribution problems. I didn't see how anyone in their right mind would even think about starting a label. Then in 1996, I had an epiphany. I was sitting in a hotel room on a rainy night in Georgia (no kidding) thinking about this new thing called the Internet. It occurred to me that the technology had the potential to bring music directly from the studio to the listener, completely bypassing a music distribution system that was rapidly breaking down. And for the first time in history, it also had the potential to put complete control of the product in the artist's hands; from creation to consumer. But this was before the general public was tuned into the Internet concept. It was also before Real Audio, Media Players, Explorer, Napster, shopping carts (the virtual kind), email, java, broadband, and all the other technologies that make the Internet such a rich experience. I had to wait another two years before the Internet became a “commercially” viable entity. In 1997, I decided it was time to start. I bought some software, a couple of how-to books, built a one-page website, and released Southern Extreme with Joel, Kidd Jordan, and Alvin Fielder. We sold the CD exclusively from the Internet off that one-page website, and in doing so, I believe, became the first record label (on any style of music) to attempt such a ridiculous feat. Those early days were slow going. Sometimes months would go buy without a single customer. You have to remember that 1997 and 1998 was a time before the public was clued into online shopping or music downloads. During the next two years, we released two more recordings...not exactly a roaring start, but we slowly grew, building a loyal fan base of buyers and internet-savvy listeners. Also during this time, encouraged by the experience we had with our own label, we began selling other recordings of like-minded music from our web site. Fast forward to today. As we approach our fifth year in business, we now have ten excellent recordings in our in-house catalogue with plans for eight new releases in 2003; we have over a 1000 excellent creative new music CDs on our web site; we have sold CDs in over 40 countries; and we have almost 100,000 visitors to our web site each month. We have also come full-circle, so to speak, and have also begun selling our own releases in more traditional brick-and-mortar record stores. We have found that our online presence complements our physical presence and vice-versa. (Reprinted by permission from SoundTech Quarterly, Vol. 23, 2002) For More Information Drimala Records |
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